Shut up and Rest
by outerelf
Summary: For once it's Red taking care of an exhausted Inferno...


I was off on a very happy, upbeat fic streak yesterday, now I feel like being dark and angsty… And I'm certain I failed my tests. DX

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsS

Inferno felt as if he was recharging on his feet. A lot had happened in the past orn or so. First decepticon attack, then trying to force Red Alert to get some sleep (which had failed miserably), and now he had patrol duty.

He made his way over to where his partners waited, stumbling slightly.

"Ouch, you look bad. Why not go get some recharge Inferno? We'll call in to get someone to cover for you?"

Inferno nodded, turned, and planned on going straight to his room, when the fire alarm went off.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno looked down at his soot-covered body, figuring that the day could not get much worse then this. It was about to however. "Inferno!"

Inferno jumped at the sound of Prowl's voice, turning. Prowl stood there, datapad in hand. "Have you finished with everything yet?"

'What-"

"The paperwork about the last three fires that have appeared onboard!" Prowl snarled, looking at Inferno. "I've been waiting for them for the past four orns, and I can't finish my paperwork until you get them done."

Inferno thought back, and said slowly, "I got some of it done. Not all of it since the 'Con's attack caught me in the middle-"

"No excuses. Now go finish and then clean yourself off."

Inferno sighed miserably.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Red Alert moved through the base, tools in hand. He paused as he caught a wiff of smoke, and followed it. Inferno sat at a table, still covered in soot, attempting to fill out the last of the data. Red Alert looked over his head, and silently shook it. There were so many spelling errors and information in the wrong places Prowl would be lucky if he could decipher it. "Inferno."

Inferno looked up blearily, almost falling into a recharge. "Inferno, go get some rest. I'll finish up the pad."

"But, Red, you already have a lot-"

"And one more pad won't do me any harm. Besides, if you send that in to Prowl, he's liable to crash trying to figure it out."

Inferno looked down at the pad, and realized for the first time what he had been writing like. He groaned, and was about to start again, when Red Alert caught his hand. "Inferno, do I have to order you to the recharge bunk?"

Inferno shook his head. Even with his CPU so exhausted it could hardly think straight, he recognized the dangerous tone in Red Alerts voice. Red Alert nodded, and Inferno wearily made his way to the washroom. Red Alert was about to go in the other direction after his destroyed camera, when he realized something.

Inferno was liable to drown himself because he would slip into a recharge while standing. Red Alert hastily went after his partner, knowing that Hoist would take care of it. It was his turn anyways, so he really couldn't complain, now could he?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno caught himself drifting off, and jerked himself back out of recharge. He stood nearly wide-awake underneath the pounding water, and then slowly began recharging once more.

Red Alert entered at that moment, shaking his head. _And Inferno complains that I don't get enough rest._ He thought dryly as he made his way over.

Despite the running water, the soot stubbornly clung to Inferno, masking his red paint. Red Alert picked up a cloth, and began scrubbing.

Inferno nearly hit the ceiling in surprise. "Red! What are you doing here?"

"Washing you off. You look about ready to recharge, and I can't have you drowning in the washroom. Think of how bad that would look."

"ya have a talent for making me feel wanted." Inferno grumbled sarcastically. Red Alerts scrubbing didn't even pause.

"Of course. But I figured that you might just want to get into a recharge sooner, rather then later."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno collapsed on his bunk, and instantly fell into a deep recharge. Red Alert placed a single hand on Infernos helm, gazing down at the fire truck. Then, softly he padded out of the room.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno woke up to the large empty space beside him, something that his still recharged fogged CPU told him was wrong.

Without thinking about it, he sent off a message to Red Alert. _Red, my booth is really empty right now._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert paused in the cafeteria as the message came through. He read it twice, then picked up two cubes. Quickly he rushed out, before Inferno could fall back into a recharge.

Inferno was still lying down and awake when Red Alert came in with a few energon cubes. "Here Inferno, drink this. I don't want to drag in Ratchet to pump you full of energon because you went into stasis because of energon loss."

Inferno drank the cube in nearly one gulp, and pulled Red Alert onto the recharge booth. "Mmmmm…." He sighed.

Red Alert felt Inferno's spark pulse beneath the plating, and he placed one auditory receptor to the spot. Faintly he could hear the soft sparking, and together they fell asleep.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

This was suggested to me by someone, who I took to heart, however found it very hard to write, because it's hard to imagine Inferno pushing himself to the beyond.


End file.
